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Blue Jays manager John Gibbons had to juggle his lineup Sunday for his team's game against the Houston Astros due to a couple of minor ailments.

Jose Bautista was in the lineup as the DH and not in right field as his left Achilles is bothering him. Rajai Davis started in right field in his place.

Adam Lind, meanwhile, didn't start due to the fact he was experiencing some minor back pain. He came in to pinch-hit in the ninth and struck out.

Back pain and Lind have gone hand-in-hand the past few seasons. He needed to leave a game against Boston on June 30 in the fourth inning due to back discomfort. Lind missed the next two games to try to make sure the problem didn't develop into one that required a stint on the disabled list. Lind missed time in both 2011 and 2012 because of back issues. Now it has returned.

MINOR MUSINGS

Kyle Drabek, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, had a solid outing on Saturday in his start at class-A Dunedin. He didn't allow a hit or run over 4.2 innings, didn't walk a batter and struck out six. His other outs consisted of eight ground balls and just one fly ball out.

At triple-A Buffalo, meanwhile, Ricky Romero had another uninspiring outing. Facing Toledo, he allowed four runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings. He struck out five and walked three.

Sergio Santos, meanwhile, who is rehabbing from a right triceps injury, threw one scoreless inning.

ROGERS' NEIGHBOURHOOD

When the Jays open up their 10-game west coast road trip on Monday, Esmil Rogers will start it off against the Oakland Athletics against A.J. Griffin.

It has been a bit of a mixed bag for Rogers ever since he made the switch from the bullpen to the starting rotation on June 7.

In the 10 starts he has made since, Rogers is 2-2 with a 3.49 ERA. Since his last win on June 18, the right-hander has gone six starts without a win, positing a 0-2 record with four no-decisions.

In his most recent start, on July 24 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Rogers was in trouble almost every inning but managed to limit the damage. Over seven innings, he allowed two runs on 10 hits, walked one and struck out four. In his previous start, July 19 vs. Tampa Bay, Rogers allowed four runs -- all solo home runs -- over 5.2 innings. He has made two starts against the Rays and has been tagged for seven home runs. In his other eight starts, he has allowed just one home run.

The complaint about Rogers is a rare one. It seems he throws too many of his pitches in the strike zone and doesn't expand the zone enough and have the batter chase.

"We want him to attack the strike zone but there are times when he needs to expand the strike zone a little bit more," pitching coach Pete Walker said of Rogers. "For the most part, he's doing a good job of attacking the strike zone but he needs to expand it a little more and take advantage of his sinker."

It's a fine line between attacking the strike zone and expanding it.

"It's more or less getting ahead and then expanding the strike zone, than getting ahead and making mistakes in a pitcher's count," Walker said.

"We've (as a collective group) done that too much). When we're in the driver's seat as pitchers, we need to finish hitters off, expand the zone, make them chase our pitch and there's times when that hasn't happened."